Stoner Acoustics EGD (DAC) + EGA (AMP) Stack
- Thread starter Uncle E1
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Anyone know when this DAC will be available to USA buyers? How much will it cost usd?
grrorr76
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There are only 2 resellers one is in Singapore the other malaysia . Its a very small company so you might be waiting a long time for a US reseller. Its an amazing DAC I bought one whilst in Singapore. They will ship you one. Id recommend ordering one and shipping it. You won't regret it.
hey are for sale now? The price on the web site says TBD, so I assume it is a future product.
grrorr76
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no there for sale now 450usd and can be ordered on there site via the purchase tab
OK. Maybe it's different in the USA, but I don't get any order options on the purchase tab. Just the list of authorized dealers and an e-mail address for "other purchases". From a business perspective, TBA (To Be Announced) for price generally means the product isn't for sale since the price hasn't been announced. If the price has been announced, the company (no matter how small) should really update the web site. Just my thoughts.
scanspeakman1
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Seems to be something wrong with the site. Seems like an outdated version. I ordered it on the website couple of months ago.
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grrorr76
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even when I bought mine in singapore actually getting a unit inshore was quite an ordeal. Its a shame as there products are quite fantastic.
grrorr76
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Oh I just saw that they have withdrawn the units from sale on there site, very weird. If your after one id suggest contacting E1 audio in singapore those are the guys who looked after me. You can contact them through there Facebook page and they reply very quickly.
This will be my short review before I'm returning my EGA EGD stack back to stoner soon, so here it goes:
Setup briefing:
Initially when i got my unit, it was without any cables, not one, but then I had the 3 pin power cable easy, it's just a pc cable. The second cable set was the interconnect which are all balanced cable, and had to get it from a local community. Fine, now the setup of the stack is done, time to plug in my headphone. Oh wait.. YET ANOTHER BALANCED cable needed. Wew.. thats a fussy setup, had to borrow from YET another local community. After all things done and set, it's a week gone, so users bear in mind, balanced cables all over the place, so if you do not have any balanced cable, PLAN AHEAD!! HD650 with balanced cable seems weird but what the heck.
Software setup:
Now here's yet another complication, but most of you are used to these steps so it's no biggie, a custom exe installation for drivers, yes, get from stoner site. Bravo HD CPL needs to be installed to correctly use the device sample rate, and is in ASIO format. Media player setup on the JRiver is WAY easier than Foobar2000, but a simple search and much mingling and you can set up correctly for F2k. JRiver is straight forward device selection.
Side note: with a bit of discussion with Stoner himself, it seems on F2k, the bitrate is recommended and is defaulted to 24 bit regardless file bit. Win 7 64 bit with F2k.
Audio Descriptions
Song used to describe: Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo
Mix of very strong bass, vocals and background vocals, with whole lot of effects implemented, like claps, sax and such
Treble / high notes
The treble coming from the EG is generally smooth and not very spiky, it is very suitable for long hours of listening without any piercing notes killing the ears. It does quite on the comfortable side, but doesnt muffle away or sacrifice much of the notes. Cymbals can be heard quite clearly but not overpowered still, which is very well done IMO. Quite like the high notes and treble done.
Vocal
Vocals are remarkably forward and crystal clear, all pronunciations are well heard. Positioning of main and background vocals are done clearly and background vocals will not get overly loud and causing a mix up among the main and back. Some instruments that are more mid emphasis are also very well done, like the trumpets and such, remarkable and have not heard such quality for some time, besides Mojo, but thats another segment that I will not do.
Bass
With great power, comes great bass! The bass out of this EG can really go deep, and I mean real deep, imagine the typical bass at 0dB and this one can go down another +6dB. Rumbling bass, oh yes! Accuracy, maybe slightly off, but not too much.Good old quality bass is there when demanded for, and yes, it is entertaining when playing such modern music which is bass quantified!
Soundstage
Soung used: The Fire Rises, Hans Zimmer
This I had to change tracks cause typical studio album has not much soundstage to talk about, and may lead me to think that the soundstage is bad, lol.
The soundstage is very wide and can echo around really nicely, giving a hall effect when the music like this is all about the echo effects and impact. Echos travel quite a distance before dying down, as others might die down prematurely and not able to hold the note echo correctly.
Conclusion / Summary
EG has made a great item here, is it the End Game as he calls it? I am not sure but I feel it is kind of close, close but not close enough. There are still some drawbacks that I pointed out, and will point out some more here. The stack is heavy to hold, needs all balanced cables, as none are provided, and that both will cost you a hefty amount of time and money. Of course then there is no portability to say for, cause it's definitely a dedicated stationary setup.
Another thing that I don't get is I couldnt use EG with my iFi iUSB, but a direct connection works, hmm.
So, for whom this may fit the bill? Users with headphones that are already designed to go balance, it will definitely excel with good results.
This is definitely a noteworthy product that is from where i came from, MALAYSIA~~~
Setup briefing:
Initially when i got my unit, it was without any cables, not one, but then I had the 3 pin power cable easy, it's just a pc cable. The second cable set was the interconnect which are all balanced cable, and had to get it from a local community. Fine, now the setup of the stack is done, time to plug in my headphone. Oh wait.. YET ANOTHER BALANCED cable needed. Wew.. thats a fussy setup, had to borrow from YET another local community. After all things done and set, it's a week gone, so users bear in mind, balanced cables all over the place, so if you do not have any balanced cable, PLAN AHEAD!! HD650 with balanced cable seems weird but what the heck.
Software setup:
Now here's yet another complication, but most of you are used to these steps so it's no biggie, a custom exe installation for drivers, yes, get from stoner site. Bravo HD CPL needs to be installed to correctly use the device sample rate, and is in ASIO format. Media player setup on the JRiver is WAY easier than Foobar2000, but a simple search and much mingling and you can set up correctly for F2k. JRiver is straight forward device selection.
Side note: with a bit of discussion with Stoner himself, it seems on F2k, the bitrate is recommended and is defaulted to 24 bit regardless file bit. Win 7 64 bit with F2k.
Audio Descriptions
Song used to describe: Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo
Mix of very strong bass, vocals and background vocals, with whole lot of effects implemented, like claps, sax and such
Treble / high notes
The treble coming from the EG is generally smooth and not very spiky, it is very suitable for long hours of listening without any piercing notes killing the ears. It does quite on the comfortable side, but doesnt muffle away or sacrifice much of the notes. Cymbals can be heard quite clearly but not overpowered still, which is very well done IMO. Quite like the high notes and treble done.
Vocal
Vocals are remarkably forward and crystal clear, all pronunciations are well heard. Positioning of main and background vocals are done clearly and background vocals will not get overly loud and causing a mix up among the main and back. Some instruments that are more mid emphasis are also very well done, like the trumpets and such, remarkable and have not heard such quality for some time, besides Mojo, but thats another segment that I will not do.
Bass
With great power, comes great bass! The bass out of this EG can really go deep, and I mean real deep, imagine the typical bass at 0dB and this one can go down another +6dB. Rumbling bass, oh yes! Accuracy, maybe slightly off, but not too much.Good old quality bass is there when demanded for, and yes, it is entertaining when playing such modern music which is bass quantified!
Soundstage
Soung used: The Fire Rises, Hans Zimmer
This I had to change tracks cause typical studio album has not much soundstage to talk about, and may lead me to think that the soundstage is bad, lol.
The soundstage is very wide and can echo around really nicely, giving a hall effect when the music like this is all about the echo effects and impact. Echos travel quite a distance before dying down, as others might die down prematurely and not able to hold the note echo correctly.
Conclusion / Summary
EG has made a great item here, is it the End Game as he calls it? I am not sure but I feel it is kind of close, close but not close enough. There are still some drawbacks that I pointed out, and will point out some more here. The stack is heavy to hold, needs all balanced cables, as none are provided, and that both will cost you a hefty amount of time and money. Of course then there is no portability to say for, cause it's definitely a dedicated stationary setup.
Another thing that I don't get is I couldnt use EG with my iFi iUSB, but a direct connection works, hmm.
So, for whom this may fit the bill? Users with headphones that are already designed to go balance, it will definitely excel with good results.
This is definitely a noteworthy product that is from where i came from, MALAYSIA~~~
grrorr76
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I whole heartedly agree with your observations. Its just an incredible piece of kit for the price.
My combo...stoner accoustics egd/cavalli liquid carbon amp/audeze lcd-2f...I wait my silver poison cable....still 2 week!
For the moment I listen with the single end output and this is already amazing!!!woaw!the sound is incredible!lot of detail but always with the power!
This DAC is the best that I ever listening!outstanding!!!
But the combination schiit gumby/mjolnir 2 makes me want...
grrorr76
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I have the EGD and the Mjolnir 2 with telefunken tubes with LCD-2's the setup sounds spectacular. Its ridiculously revealing on great recordings but on bad ones really show's them up. It really is a great match.
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